Bali early Oct - Menjangan, Penida, or Gilis? or...?

[RobUnderWater]

So we've decided we are going to head to Bali for about 9 days in early October as part of our honeymoon - partly to relax and enjoy the Bali experience, and partly to scuba

I am researching different spots -- I am an intermediate diver and my wife is quite new to diving. We'd love to see beautiful fish and plant life (colorful coral if possible), and are less interested in wrecks and muck diving.

We keep hearing different opinions on where the best scuba is around Bali. It seems like ideally we'd head to Pulau Menjangan or Nusa Penida - is that your experience?

The Gili islands off the coast of Lombok also sound like a really chilled place to spend a few days, and I wonder -- is the scuba decent? I am getting mixed reports on the internet.

Love to hear any experience or thoughts on Bali scuba (and of course places to stay near the spots you love...)

 

[Quero]

Given your stated preferences, your bride's experience level, and the fact that it's a honeymoon and you should splash out a little for that kind of occasion, I'd recommend Tulamben rather than Menjangan or the Gilis or Penida.

First of all, the diving at Penida can be challenging, especially for a less experienced diver. The challenges are currents (including down currents), thermoclines, cold water, and depth. The Gilis are just such a backpacker place--not romantic in my opinion--just a lot of high or drunk tourists. Menjangan is okay, but Tulamben is better, IMO. There's the shipwreck, for one thing, and it's spectacular. It's not so much a wreck enthusiast's site as it is a shallow artificial reef. Marine life ranges from pelagics to tiny stuff like pygmy seahorses. Plus the variety in dive sites make Tulamben much more interesting to me than Menjangan. And it's nearer cultural sites as well if you want to do touring. Finally, at Tulamben you can find honeymoon-worthy accommodation right on the beach.

 

[bayswaterbabe]

If you are keen on Menjangan, I can recommend Mimpi Resort near Pemuteran. I have stayed there and it is absolutely stunning. The Courtyard villas all have their own private hot spring tub. The resort is set in extensive beautifully landscaped grounds and there is an in-house dive centre. It isn't cheap but they do a honeymoon package and also various dive packages which can include a stay at their other resort in Tulamben (which isn't as nice). Here's the link:
Bali | Mimpi Dive Resort | Indonesia

 

[divewench1]

How about staying in one of the top notch honeymoon hotels in CandiDasa and diving out of Padang Bai; plenty of easy diving and lots to see to suit both your experience levels! PM me for more info

 

[kkfok]

Tulamben is good. I like the big school of jack fish and bumphead parrotfish and the big lone barracuda that always stay around the wreck.
I have been diving around Bali, Nusa Penida, Padang Bai, Tulamben, Seraya Secret, PJ, Secret Bay and Menjangan, but Menjangan is my favourite.
Eel Garden was really beautiful, we found critters like emperor shrimp, pygmy seahorse and many kind of gobies and at the same time we saw Gray Reef Shark and Jack Fish.

 

[ScubaduoAdventures]

We ditto Tulamben as the better of diving choices with a stay at Scuba Serraya resort in one of there villas. you should then think about staying around the Ubud area for non diving activities, really beautiful and great for honeymoon.

 

[ronscuba]

We ditto Tulamben as the better of diving choices with a stay at Scuba Serraya resort in one of there villas. you should then think about staying around the Ubud area for non diving activities, really beautiful and great for honeymoon.

How far is it from Tulamben to Ubud ? Is it feasible to stay in Tulamben and do non-diving activities in Ubud ? Or should a trip be split into 2 parts. Diving/staying in Tulamben, then staying in Ubud site seeing and non-diving ?

 

[Quero]

Split it. Roads aren't great on Bali--narrow and twisty-turny to get around the mountains, so it takes quite a long time to drive from Tulamben to Ubud. From Tulamben you can reach other interesting cultural sites like Tirta Gangga and go up Gunung Agung (the volcano that Tulamben sits at the foot of), but to enjoy Ubud, it would be best to relocate to a hotel there.

 

[pughio83]

Tulamben offers nice diving especially for macro, liberty wreck is a good dive too. Diving in Nusa penida was good but IMO not fantastic, and i went at peak times to try see mola mola, but didnt see any!! Plus the currents can be ripping so advise experience necessary to a degree. Best coral reefs for coral itself in Bali IMO are in nusa lembongan around the mangroves, unspoilt and healthy though i havent been to menjangen.

For chillout i have friends who enjoyed padang bai, and for me Ubud is fantastic place, tranquil and plenty to do for couples, try horse riding along beautiful beaches/paddy fields, rafting etc..but of course is inland so no diving there!

Gili islands also great for chillout but also has party atmosphere at night if you want (gili trawangan). horse and carts only lol, snorkelling pretty good, diving good, plenty of macrolife again but limited for pelagics. However off the beach snorkelling we saw turtles everyday, bump headed parrotfish and around gili air has some lovely coral gardens. Easy to get to from bali and not particularly expensive. If you stay on Gili trawangen then if on honeymoon stay in nicer hotel like Villa Ongbak.

 

[Valwood1]

Tulamben has wonderful diving. The only downside, especially for your wife, is the shore entry. It can be very difficult.

I've just completed four days in Lembongan and enjoyed it thoroughly. You can get there from Sanur Beach on a "fast boat", for about $40/return-trip/person. The diving is quite good -- lots of corals in most places. And Manta Point should be okay for your bride. For you, Blue Corner is a good dive, as are the walls in the channel between Penida and Lembongan. I used World-Diving in Lembongan and cannot say enough good things about that company -- very safety-conscious (like, one DM per 3-4 divers) and fairly comfortable boats.

I stayed at Pondok Baruna (next to World Diving's shop) with an a/c garden room. These rooms are new, and very nice -- plumbing all worked well, and the electricity was okay -- we had a couple of time when it went out, but it was not a disaster. I imagine that there are might be fancier places, but these rooms were pretty reasonably priced (400k IDR, which included brekkie).

If there's anything to do on Lembongan other than dive or lay on the beach, I'm not sure what it is.